Modern - U - Monoblue Izzet

Deck Rating (at time of initial publication):

 ★★★★☆

4/5
"Remarkably fast and with a strong tempo."

      What This Deck Does

• Utilizes extremely early-game creatures.
• Prevents a mid-late game presence from your opponent.

     Features Worth Noting

• All creatures, except for two Snapcaster Mages are one-drops, leaving open mana to respond with.
• A total of 6 1-drop enchantments allow the deck to be heavily aggressive while retaining mana open. (this allows for you to stop them from getting 2 of your cards for one of theirs--or more frequently its too fast for that to even be an option.)
• Clout of the Dominance gives every creature you control shroud, making them particularly difficult to deal with.
• Fewer lands allow for slightly increased consistency. Each addition of an island fetch land will increase this consistency even further.
• Boomerang allows you to solve almost every problem you'll be presented. If no problems arise, and you have it early, use it to bounce your opponents lands and keep them stuck in an early gamestate.
• Using Snapcaster Mage for a Gitaxian Probe may seem wasteful, especially since you already have knowledge of an opponent's hand, but if you don't a counterspell ready in your hand, it can be a strong play which will allow you to keep pressure on your opponent.
• Gigadrowse is a very powerful card. In certain match ups it acts as a strong control card, tapping down opponents' lands. In other match ups it allows you to get damage through via tapping down opponents' creatures. All of this while allowing you to exile excess copies cast to Nivmagus Elemental, giving him +2/+2 permanently per replicated copy.

     Deck List

Creature - 17 4 x Blistercoil Weird 3 x Delver of Secrets 4 x Nivmagus Elemental 2 x Snapcaster Mage 4x Stream Hopper Enchantment - 6 4 x Clout of the Dominus 2 x Unstable Mutation Instant - 15 4 x Boomerang 4 x Gigadrowse 3 x Spell Pierce 4 x Vapor Snag

Sorcery - 4 4 x Gitaxian Probe Land - 18 14 x Island 4 x Any blue fetch land (or 10 and 8)

   Important Notes:
Don't think of, or play, this as a Nivmagus Elemental deck. Nivmagus is a helpful card, sure, but Stream Hopper is far more likely to win you a game against a good opponent than Nivmagus is.

Do not be afarid to spend life on a Gitaxian Probe if you are not against extremely fast aggro. Even against extremely fast aggro, it's probably still best to spend the life to keep the mana open and ready--this goes doubly so if Spell Pierce has been sided out for less strict counterspells.


     Match Ups Worth Noting
   Opponents with the option like to board in a Spellskite (believing that it will stop Clout of the Dominance and Unstable Mutation from being effective and keep their lands from being boomeranged back to their hands). Vapor snag forces them to tie up all of their mana replaying spellskite, preventing them from accomplishing anything.
   Spell Pierce is practically worthless against certain decks (such as Tron). They should be side-boarded out in many instances (for Mana Leak, Deprive, or more local-meta appropriate cards such as Hurkyl's Recall).

BreakMTG Archive

Archived List of Tested Decks

     Added:

• January 9, 2013  --  Standard - WU - Hexproof Aggro     ★★
• January 8, 2013  --  Standard - WUG - Turbo Fog           ★★★★
• January 8, 2013  --  Standard - WUR - Reforge (Mill)      ★★★★
• January 2, 2013  --  Standard - WBG - Repository          ★★★★

For conceptual decks: In The Lab Archive

Standard - WU - Hexproof Aggro

Deck Rating (at time of initial publication):

 ★★

"Can be fairly explosive. Hexproof creatures are extremely resilient."

      What This Deck Does

• Puts out an hexproof creature then loads it up with enchantments.
• Controls the board with yet more enchantments.

     Features Worth Noting

• Very strong hate exists for a deck like this, but it is fairly unlikely that hate will be encountered.
• This deck can be very fast, but because you are only running 8 creatures that cost 3 or less, you may find yourself stuck without a creature.
• Strong synergies.

     Deck List

Artifact - 1 1 x Silver-Inlaid Dagger Creature - 12 4 x Geist of Saint Traft 4 x Invisible Stalker 4 x Lone Revenant Enchantment - 19 4 x Curiosity 4 x Detention Sphere 4 x Ethereal Armor 3 x Oblivion Ring 4 x Spectral Flight

Land - 22 4 x Glacial Fortress 4 x Hallowed Fountain 8 x Island 6 x Plains Instant - 6 3 x Azorius Charm 3 x Think Twice

     I've seen similar decks spring up all over the place, typically running Bonds of Faith or other pacifism effects. These enchantments do allow you to shut down some decks, but more than likely they'll just lead to a slower match loss.
     The one-of Silver-Inlaid Dagger is entirely replaceable, and is mostly a throw-back to another deck I built for the format. Silver-Inlaid Dagger is a great equipment for Invisible Stalker, however it does not have very good synergy with the deck. I would strongly advise against adding more than one, even if you find it to be useful in the deck.

     This deck was originally built before Return to Ravnica came out, as a Bant deck. It had an amazing potential to explode, but it also had a lot of early game mana problems, even with Abundant Growth.


     What A Good Hand Might Look Like

• Land and an Invisible Stalker or Geist of Saint Traft with practically any enchantment is a good hand.
• Land and Ethereal Armor with a few draw cards is a mediocre hand.

• Land and Lone Revenant is not a good hand. Lone Revenant is a good deal too slow to be your first creature.
• Land and any number of good enchantments is not a good hand. With only 8 cheap creatures in the deck, you may never draw into something worth playing.

     Match Ups Worth Noting
     Board wipes are annoying but don't really spell out a game loss for this deck. Rolling Temblor and Mutilate are to be feared, but there's a very good chance you'll outrace both cards without trying. If not, you can delay yourself a turn to play your creatures--after all, if they're hoping to wipe the board, they aren't trying to race you for early game damage (and that's your trickiest match-up).
     Zombies and other aggro decks typically go about 50/50 with this deck. This is due in-large to the random nature of having so few hexproof creatures. Luckily those decks have a hard time removing your creatures without a very lucky Bonfire of the Damned, and if Bonfire is a card that gives you a lot of trouble, you can go so far as to sideboard in a Redirect for one of the funniest interactions in the standard format.
     Be sure to board in Pithing Needles against planeswalkers that can give you trouble (notably Jace, Architect of Thought and Lilliana, of the Veil).

Deck ratings - What do they mean?

Here on Break MTG, decks are rated between 1 and 5 stars.

Decks rated as having between 1 and 3 stars are rated for having a degree of potential.

★☆☆☆☆ - Some potential is shown, but ultimately the deck is not competitive at this time.

★★☆☆☆ - Some potential is shown, but this deck is stuck around a 50% win rate. It still needs something to put it over the edge.

★★★☆☆ - A good amount of potential is shown, however a certain archetype in the meta is keeping this deck from really taking off. These decks have high win rates against certain match-ups, but ultimately need better answers to bad situations.

Decks rated as having 4 and 5 stars have more than just potential, they have an extremely strong track record.

★★★★☆ - Decks rated as having 4 stars have at minimum a 70% win rate, usually higher. Decks with this rating have a good potential to break the MTG meta.

★★★★★ - This rating is reserved for decks that have proven to break the MTG meta. This rating will not be given out lightly.

Standard - WUG - Turbo Fog

Deck Rating (at time of initial publication):

 ★★★★

"Horrendously slow play leading to complete lock down."

      What This Deck Does

• Practically nothing for the first 4-5 turns, however this is intentional.
• Stops your opponent from doing any damage to you ever again.
• Wins via milling out your opponent (which you do help along a good bit) or by swinging with several power 2 creatures while wiping all of your opponent's creatures.
• Gets Tamiyo's ultimate off about 95% of the time.

     Features Worth Noting

• You will have a massive hand at some point.
• You will be able to wipe their entire board of creatures.
• You will be able to counterspell everything played slower than instant speed unless rewind is exiled.

     Deck List

Artifact - 5 2 x Elixir of Immortality 3 x Otherworld Atlas Creature - 11 3 x Borderland Ranger 4 x Dawntreader Elk 4 x Snapcaster Mage Instant - 14 3 x Clinging Mists 4 x Fog 1 x Rewind 4 x Safe Passage 2 x Unsummon

Land - 22 4 x Evolving Wilds 5 x Forest 2 x Glacial Fortress 4 x Hinterland Harbor 3 x Island 2 x Plains 2 x Sunpetal Grove Sorcery - 4 4 x Terminus Planeswalker - 4 4 x Tamiyo, the Moon Sage

     Note: This deck was built before Return to Ravnica was released and it still beats every deck it has been run against, however it is possible that a more efficient fog card exists now to replace Clinging Mists. Whatever you replace, do not remove Safe Passage. Safe Passage is far too crucial at saving you and ultimately Tamiyo from burn.


     What A Good Hand Might Look Like

• Turn 1: Evolving Wilds > Crack Evolving Wilds for a plains (usually plains is the best option unless you need a forest).
• Turn 2: Land > Play Dawntreader Elk if you have it.
• Turn 3: Land > Play Dawntreader or Borderland ranger if you have it. (or crack any existing Dawntreder Elk on their turn)
• Turn 4: Continue in this pattern until you can safely play Tamiyo AND Fog/Clinging Mists/block for her.

     It's important that you save your fog effects until later in the game. If you aren't playing against a red deck, there's almost no need to fear quick damage, so you can allow your opponent to get  you to a very low amount of life.

     Do not allow black or red decks to get you to low amounts of life, it's probably a good idea to sideboard in a few Thragtusks for these match-ups, although this deck has not needed them in testing.

As for Otherworld Atlas: At the end of each of their turns, add a counter to Otherworld Atlas. Only use it to draw if you absolutely need to, and only on their turn (or if you would miss a land drop). Once you get your Otherworld Altas to 4 counters, then you should use it to draw every turn on their end step before they discard.

     Match Ups Worth Noting
     Hellrider has to be stopped with a well-placed Safe Passage and then by keeping him tapped with Tamiyo or by playing Tamiyo afterwards and then Tapping him down. Burning your only Rewind early is also an acceptable way to deal with him, as you will get it back eventually.
     This deck beats everything, including other mill decks. It probably will not beat a burn deck if they ever rise to prominence, especially with the recent announcement of the card Skullcrack.

Standard - WUR - Reforge (Mill)

Deck Rating (at time of initial publication):

 ★★★★

"A good counter to much of the current standard meta. Surprisingly powerful."

     Foreword: One of my major goals with this website will be to bring really a-typical decks into the light. This deck is a fairly extreme example of that idea. A lot of the cards in this deck are seeing no play--and for good reason! If you give this deck a shot, you'll be surprised at how well something that seems this janky can actually work.

      What This Deck Does

• Stalls the game. 
• Mills out the opponent.
• More in-depth: This deck aims to wipe the board over and over and cycle out your and your opponents hands. Every Reforge the Soul you play effectively mills your opponent 7 cards (and an additional 7 cards later when Psychic Spiral resolves). Late game, when you are able to cast Epic Experiment for a good bit (if it comes to that) then you can stack Devastation Tide followed by Reforge the Soul for a complete wipe, or Reforge the Soul followed by Psychic Spiral for extremely heavy amounts of mill.

     Features Worth Noting

• Although this is a mill deck, it wins very consistently.
• Far more interesting than your average mill deck.
• So much of the deck is cycled through that it retains some form of consistency, even with the horrid random factor that miracle cards bring to Magic.
• It actually wins via milling!
• Several one and two-ofs, which means games appear to be fairly different.
• Epic Experiment ultimately puts itself in the graveyard before any cards it casts can be on the stack--and you can stack your spells to make interesting combos and mill for huge amounts by putting Psychic Spiral at the very end.
• Also, Codex Shredder finally has a home. It can actually save you if you draw an important card far too early in the game.
• Against graveyard shenanigans decks you have the option of milling yourself over milling your opponent for effectively the same end result.

     Deck List

Artifact - 2 1 x Codex Shredder 1 x Sands of Delirium Instant - 8 2 x Azorius Charm 2 x Psychic Spiral 2 x Thought Scour 2 x Unsummon  Sorcery - 22 1 x Bonfire of the Damned 4 x Devastation Tide 2 x Entreat the Angels 2 x Epic Experiment 4 x Reforge the Soul 3 x Rolling Temblor 2 x Supreme Verdict 4 x Terminus

Land - 26 4 x Glacial Fortress 4 x Hallowed Fountain 4 x Island 3 x Mountain 3 x Plains 4 x Steam Vents 4 x Sulfur Falls Planeswalker - 2 2 x Jace, Architect of Thought

     What A Good Hand Might Look Like

• Lots of land. Few miracle cards.

     There's really no room for variation on this. Luckily, this hand is pretty simple to achieve with 26 lands. You want to have a land out that can produce white mana turn one, and a source that can produce red mana by turn two.

     Cards that draw you additional cards are also highly advantageous, but make sure you remember to use them wisely. For example: I may save my Thought Scour until I have 3 mana available and then use it on my opponent's turn. This allows me to hit a miracle card that can really change the game. It is still unfortunate to hit an Entreat the Angels this way, so if the game is progressing slowly enough you should wait an additional turn.

     Match Ups Worth Noting

     More testing is needed, but it appears like this deck works well against everything except for counterspells. This includes low aggro, mid range, and combo decks. This certainly includes reanimator decks and life gain decks.
     If burn becomes viable, this deck will not work.

Standard - WBG - Repository

Deck Rating (at time of initial publication):

 ★★★★

"Fast, consistent, and possibly adaptable for modern play."

      What This Deck Does

• Ramps off of two sets of mana dorks, Farseek, and the star of the show: Druids' Repository. For a total of 4 primary sources. 
• Plays one of 3 large bombs extremely early and fairly consistently.

     Features Worth Noting

• Often times when Druids' Repository is out early in the game, it allows you to cast another spell on turn 3 (usually playing Farseek or Gather the Townsfolk)--both of which allow you to ramp considerably more efficiently than other decks in standard.
• Can win as early as turn 4 without drawing Druids' Repository.
• Is surprisingly more resilient to board wipes than it would appear to be (although that will almost certainly change if, and when, a new low-costed red board wipe is printed for standard)

     Deck List

Creature - 16 2 x Angel of Serenity 4 x Arbor Elf 4 x Avacyn's Pilgrim 3 x Craterhoof Behemoth 3 x Thragtusk Enchantment - 7 3 x Collective Blessing 4 x Druids' Repository Sorcery - 11 4 x Farseek 4 x Gather the Townsfolk 3 x Lingering Souls

Land - 24 8 x Forest 2 x Isolated Chapel 4 x Overgrown Tomb 2 x Plains 2 x Sunpetal Grove 4 x Temple Garden 2 x Woodland Cemetery Planeswalker - 22 x Garruk, Primal Hunter

 
     What A Good Hand Might Look Like (w/o interference)

• Turn 1: Land > Mana Dork
• Turn 2: Land > Mana Dork > Gather the Townsfolk
• Turn 3: Land > Druids' Repository > Swing with 3 creatures for 3 counters on Druids' Repository > Lingering Souls/Gather the Townsfolk/Mana Dork
• Turn 4: Land >  Your choice of bomb, victory this turn or the next one depending on which bomb.

     Different Hand

• Turn 1: Land > Mana Dork
• Turn 2: Land > Mana Dork > Mana Dork > Mana Dork
• Turn 3: Land > Gather the Townsfolk/Lingering Souls + Flashback
• Turn 4: Land > Your choice of bomb, victory this turn or the next one depending on which bomb.

     Slow Hand

• Turn 1: Land > Mana Dork
• Turn 2: Land > Lingering Souls / Gather the Townsfolk
• Turn 3: Land > Farseek > Gather the Townsfolk/Farseek
• Turn 4: Land > Anything you can play
• Turn 5: Land > Thragtusk or Collective Blessing
• Turn 6: Your choice of bomb, victory this turn or the next one depending on which bomb.

     Of course all of these hands are being played without interference and a typical game won't go over quite so smoothly.

     An even slower hand might include additional bombs or Thragtusks that will further delay you.  Garruk, Primal Hunter can really help you catch up in a particularly slow game.


     Match Ups Worth Noting

     This deck typically outruns other aggro decks of the format, however red and white decks can slow you down with an early burn or an O-ring to druids' repository. Also with white decks, it's possible you'll have to sacrifice more creatures early game than to other colors.
     Against heavy board control you may end up relying on your Garruk, Primal Hunter. I find it is a wise choice to have 2 additional Garruks in the sideboard.
     Boardwipe control via Supreme Verdict, Terminus, or any red board wipe may slow you down considerably, but it typically still loses.
     This deck has not been consistently tested against turbo fog, which I still believe to be a threat.
     Life gain decks typically do not gain enough life to stop this deck.
     Token decks that rely on anthems are typically too slow to match this deck.
     Reanimator decks are usually too slow, however it can be a toss-up.
     Jund midrange decks are almost always consistently too slow--this may change if they begin to incorporate more hand control. This deck could have a problem against atypical discard effects.
     This deck outruns any form of enchantment shenanigan deck, with exception to a god hand from a certain bant variety.
     Counterspells are currently the biggest threat to this deck. Although not every bomb is a creature, a well placed essence scatter or dissipate can cause you to lose a game. This is more likely to be relevant games 2 and 3.